Ed,

EV>I did it mostly to have fun watching folks guess if it was worth paying
EV>me 50 cents for one of the bags.

  Hams can be some of the biggest cheapskates you'll ever find...but
most would prefer to use the word "frugal".  I've seen a
lot of these
"older computers" at hamfest...both PC's and even Apple and Commodore
computers. And, let us not forget the peripherals such as printers,
floppy drives, modems, etc.

EV>The SECOND reason was that my wife asked me to get rid of some of the
EV>stuff that I had hoarded.

  Yeah, got to keep the XYL happy.

EV>I had fun being on the other side of the table once.

  Sort of like when one visits ARRL HQ, and works W1AW...you get to be
on the other side of the pile-up.

  On another note, it looks like that data radio may not arrive until
sometime next month...so the packet door on the BBS probably won't be
activated until sometime in September.

  And, speaking of hamfests, there are 2 hamfests in Arkansas in
September...Mena and Little Rock.

  They are still doing remodeling at the lodge at Queen Wilhemena State
Park near Rich Mountain...so folks camp out in tents, or sleep in their
vehicles overnight. Weather can vary widely from the base of the
mountain to the summit.

  I understand they have a "small railroad" (similar to what's at a zoo)
with Kansas City Southern equipment, where folks can ride around the
complex. It's billed as "the best little hamfest west of the
Mississippi"...and it's practically one of the oldest ones...now 45
years running. I've never been to Mena, but many folks from the Arklatex
region go each year...always the weekend after Labor Day Weekend.

  As for Little Rock, it's much smaller than it once was. While still
billed as the All Arkansas Hamfest, it's only on Saturday now (usually
morning and early afternoon), and there aren't a ton of vendors (sort of
like the hamfest at Hoxie). I do the license exam sessions at the All
Arkansas Hamfest (held at Catholic High School...since some of the hams
are faculty there, they get the facility for free), and plan to do a
demo of D-Star, D-Rats, Packet, and Echolink after the exams.

  The Russellville hamfest is better, and I like to go to the nearby
Whattaburger across from Arkansas Tech University afterwards...but
there's usually a long wait to get served, as the place is so popular!!
It first opened in 1967, and still does a land office business.

  Speaking of Hoxie, I'm glad their hamfest didn't occur last week, when
they had that massive head on collision of 2 Union Pacific freight
trains...apparently, the southbound train ran a red signal...the 2
crewmembers on that one were killed, and the 2 crew members on the
northbound train were injured.

Daryl, WX1DER

---
 þ OLX 1.53 þ What you think of me is none of my business.
                                                                           
                                                                      
--- Virtual Advanced Ver 2 for DOS